Populus alba (pop’-u-lus al’-ba)
Family: Salicaceae, Willow
Key Steps
- 1b – Alternate leaf arrangement — go to 18
- 18a – Leaf simple — go to 19
- 19b – Thornless — go to 22
- 22d – All leaves lobed — go to 23
- 23b – Palmate venation — go to 30
- 30a – Leaves whitish beneath. Petiole flat — White Poplar
- 23b – Palmate venation — go to 30
- 22d – All leaves lobed — go to 23
- 19b – Thornless — go to 22
- 18a – Leaf simple — go to 19
Description
Leaf: Slightly lobed. Deep dark green above and woolly beneath. Petiole is long and hairy. Random venation off of the central vein.
Bud: Scales round, brown with white ‘wool’ (woollyness may rub off), and fringed with long hairs.
Leaf Scar: Somewhat raised, crescent-shaped, 3 lobes. Three bundle scars.
Stem: New growth white, woolly.
Bark: White, smooth, older is black.
Pith: 5-pointed, star-shaped. White, solid.
Flower: Male and female catkins on separate trees before leaves.
Fruit: Female catkin cotton producing. Seeds are attached to ‘threads’ of cotton.
Habit: Large, open, has several main branches. White ‘cast’ to everything. Weak wooded. May sucker. To 40+ feet tall.
Culture: Full sun. Moist conditions are preferred.
Note: P. alba ‘Pyramidalis’ (Bolleana Poplar) is columnar.
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